Democrats launch plan to turn Texas blue

National Democrats are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state, strategists familiar with the plans told POLITICO.

The organization, dubbed “Battleground Texas,” plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles. Two sources said the contemplated budget would run into the tens of millions of dollars over several years - a project Democrats hope has enough heft to help turn what has long been an electoral pipe dream into reality.

At the center of the effort is Jeremy Bird, formerly the national field director for President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, who was in Austin last week to confer with local Democrats about the project.

In a statement to POLITICO, Bird said the group would be “a grassroots organization that will make Texas a battleground state by treating it like one.”

“With its diversity and size, Texas should always be a battleground state where local elections are vigorously contested and anyone who wants to be our commander in chief has to compete and show they reflect Texas values. Yet for far too long, the state’s political leaders, both in Austin and in Washington, D.C., have failed to stand for Texans,” said Bird, who recently founded a consulting firm, 270 Strategies. “Over the next several years, Battleground Texas will focus on expanding the electorate by registering more voters – and as importantly, by mobilizing Texans who are already registered voters but who have not been engaged in the Democratic process.”

(Also on POLITICO: Texas GOP touts its Hispanic model)

Said Bird: “Candidates who represent Texans should have to fight hard for the honor – and Battleground Texas will help make sure they do.

One Democrat close to the planning process said the group intended to bring in “top campaign talent to Texas” for a long-term organizing push. Strategists filed papers with the Texas Ethics Commission to create Battleground Texas earlier this month with that goal in mind.

“It’s going to take a sustained effort and we’re going to have to prove ourselves over time,” the Democrat staid. “We need to have the talent in state to build something real over time and make the environment such that you can look someone in the eye and say, ‘You can run statewide and you can win,’ or you can tell a presidential candidate that you should really consider putting resources here.”

Another strategist tied to Texas called the project a “very positive effort to try to put together a pretty broad grassroots organization to try to identify and ultimately mobilize progressive voters.”

“There’s a realistic view that that will take more than one cycle,” the strategist said. “None of this stuff is ever real until you’ve got money.”

Democrats have eyed Texas longingly for years, watching as the Republicans bastion has transformed into a majority-minority state. The 2010 census found that 38 percent of Texans identified themselves as Latino or Hispanic; just under 45 percent were non-Hispanic whites.

Public education is not education ... it is schooling.
Our military is not defense ... it is warmongering and empire building.
Government police do not protect ... they control.
Regulations do not regulate ... they protect the status quo.
Government banks do not distribute money based on effort ... it is gifted to close friends ... and some of it trickles down.

The result is war, poverty, fear, chaos, and hopelessness for most people with abundance for a few elite.
-Travlyr

I have family that still say things like Democrat voters in their state should go back up to Yanktown where they belong and leave them alone. This reeks of more Latino vote pandering, which is getting embarrassing from both sides but come on now. Here's one for you Bird, "Don't bother with Texas."

"Perfect safety is not the purpose of government." - Ron Paul

Originally Posted by brushfire

"I was in the rain forest once, and it rained on me..."

Originally Posted by Carson

Ron Paul suggested a very good first step to the process of restoring sound money... It was beautiful. It left them all standing with their fiats out.

Originally Posted by acptulsa

'Excuse us, we'll be leaving now. Oh, and you don't mind if we just steal this Constitution before we go? You @#$%s aren't using it anyway...'

It will work, california used to be a battleground state not all that long ago. Liberty will not win trying to defend such a large area as the united states, population growth always favors liberalism.

"Look, the American people have chosen to have a fiat money standard because they want a welfare state. You cannot have a gold standard and a welfare state at the same time. You have to make the choice. We have made a decision as a society that we’ll be dealing with the welfare state." -Alan Greenspan

They did it in Florida, California and Virginia and they've almost done it in Arizona, North Carolina and Lousiana. Make no mistake, Texas and Georgia are next.
If Reagan ran in 2012, he would have lost in a landslide.

A problem with progressives in America is when they turn a state to crap, like they did in New York and Massachusetts, they just move to another, wealthier, more conservative state and ruin that too. So many of them came from the Northeast to California, then once California was wrecked they went to Florida, now they're flooding in to Texas and Georgia, voting for more government and also rabidly proselytizing the natives to liberalism.

I really like the idea of dividing the country up between the liberty lovers and the statists. Hopefully the liberty lovers will get more of the Southern states. I don't like the cold plus Alabama has some great beaches. The way it looks I don't think the liberty people would too much space.

“First of all, if you’ve got health insurance, you like your doctors, you like your plan, you can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan. Nobody is talking about taking that away from you.” Lying Sack of Crap

I really like the idea of dividing the country up between the liberty lovers and the statists. Hopefully the liberty lovers will get more of the Southern states. I don't like the cold plus Alabama has some great beaches. The way it looks I don't think the liberty people would too much space.

After allowing everyone to move, we should do what India did when they divided the nation up into Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. We need to build a border separating the northeast region plus Pennsylvania and Virginia from the rest of us. I still want to be a United States Citizen.

They did it in Florida, California and Virginia and they've almost done it in Arizona, North Carolina and Lousiana. Make no mistake, Texas and Georgia are next.
If Reagan ran in 2012, he would have lost in a landslide.

A problem with progressives in America is when they turn a state to crap, like they did in New York and Massachusetts, they just move to another, wealthier, more conservative state and ruin that too. So many of them came from the Northeast to California, then once California was wrecked they went to Florida, now they're flooding in to Texas and Georgia, voting for more government and also rabidly proselytizing the natives to liberalism.

The reason the whites up north continue allying themselves with African Americans in the south is to keep their wealth and power from going to the south. But there is only so much unemployment to go around. Ultimately, when a white northern person moves to Texas, they lose the financial reason to be a liberal. You know, the root of all evil is the love of money. That kind of thing . . .

I disagree about Virginia. Virginia isn't the solidly conservative state that it once was (if it ever was), but it's not comparable to California by any means. There is one corner of Virginia called "NoVA" (Northern Virginia) which is densely populated and economically dominated by Washington DC. This region has enough people to offset the rest of the state in statewide elections, but not by much. Obama won Virginia with 51.15% of the vote but Romney won 7 of the 11 congressional districts. Virginia is considering awarding presidential electors on a per-district basis in the future. If this system were in place for the 2012 election, the GOP would have received 7 electoral votes and Dems 6 (4 districts + 2 at large for the 51.15% statewide total).

My point here is that Virginia hasn't been turned, it's a battleground state. We currently have a GOP governor and we have a pretty good candidate for governor this year. The Senate is split 20-20 with a GOP Lt. Governor casting tie-breaking votes. The GOP has the majority in the House of Delegates. Anything coming out of the state house would be considered conservative if compared to the other 49 state houses. Please don't let a presidential election map convince you that Virginia is interchangeable with CA or NY. If the GOP ever fields a good presidential candidate, Virginia will be red again.

Originally Posted by Uncle Emanuel Watkins

After allowing everyone to move, we should do what India did when they divided the nation up into Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. We need to build a border separating the northeast region plus Pennsylvania and Virginia from the rest of us. I still want to be a United States Citizen.

I'm ok with just being a Virginia Citizen. Feel free to keep the federal government.

I really like the idea of dividing the country up between the liberty lovers and the statists. Hopefully the liberty lovers will get more of the Southern states. I don't like the cold plus Alabama has some great beaches. The way it looks I don't think the liberty people would too much space.

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"All eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man, let the annual return of this day(July 4th), forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."Thomas JeffersonJune 1826

First, import a bunch of third worlders that depend on federal government handouts for their survival.....

.

"Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won."

We know that the intention is to import more Undocumented workers Democrats. The border could get wild (even more so than now).

Out of every one hundred men they send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty will do nothing but serve as targets for the enemy. Nine are real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, upon them depends our success in battle. But one, ah the one, he is a real warrior, and he will bring the others back from battle alive.

Duty is the most sublime word in the English language. Do your duty in all things. You can not do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less than your duty.

Obama and the Dems have done somethin similar with the Hispanic vote, it seems. And California will now be a majority latino state, outnumbering whites for the first time. Texas could follow, so dont be too sure about it being a red state forever.

i dont like lumping people into groups, but reality is a kick in the face